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New Genealogy Blogs April 9, 2011

[Editor’s Note: this is a regular feature of GeneaBloggers which highlights new genealogy and family history-related blogs as well as those recently discovered by members of GeneaBloggers. Use the Suggest A Blog! link in the menu bar to pass along information on new blogs.]

There are 12 newly-discovered genealogy and family-history related blogs that we’ve located this week for a total of 1844 genealogy blogs on our list! Remember to try and help out these new blogs by:

A Grave Curiosity is the cemetery blog of David Suddarth. I am a genealogist from St. Paul, MN who enjoys exploring old cemeteries. I decided to start this blog to share with others my love of cemeteries. Be sure to check out my genealogy research blog, Ancestral Journeys, and my genealogy website, DWS Genealogy.

I’ve assumed the role as family genealogist for my maternal and paternal lines of the family. I have a yearning to know the people behind the vital statistics. My quest began in the 1990s. I hope to connect with others to expand the collection I have for the main lines of Geiszler, Comfort, Brown and Long.

Join me as I share my adventures in genealogy. I am the Indiana Genealogical Society’s County Genealogist for Brown County, so if have a question, I am here to help. My goal is to encourage and mentor you in the pursuit of your ancestors, as I search for my own.

Bret Petersen developed a love of family history research at a young age and this continued through his college years at BYU where he graduated with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Education.

His interest in computers then led him into a professional training/support role with a Utah-based technology company that supplies publishing systems and software throughout the world.

His passion for family history research and the growth of computer-assisted research led him to the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group where he now serves as Webmaster.

As a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild he has been a presenter and teacher for groups ranging from just a few people, to several hundred. He serves on the Utah Genealogical Association’s Education Committee and is working towards his professional genealogist accreditation.

He loves teaching and helping others learn all they can about using technology in researching their family history.

He also enjoys sharing his family history data and copies with any of his relatives via his online family history site at www.BranchesOfOurTree.com. There, registered family users can view, edit, download, contribute and collaborate in a very powerful online family history environment. Others are welcome to look, but will only see certain details on deceased family members.

I love history (thanks Dad!). I love a mystery. I have an inquiring mind. I love a good story. I see dead people (not really, I was on a roll….) Researching family history encompasses all of these traits. It really is a natural for me.

I started in 1988 when Cassie was a baby. I don’t know what sparked it, but I am REALLY, REALLY grateful! My four grandparents were in great health, sharp as tacks and a priceless source of information. My then husband, Rob, wasn’t so lucky. His grandparents were gone, except for one, James Culotta (Nano), for whom we named our son.

I bugged the crap out of all of them, gleaning what I could from their memories. Asking a kazillion questions, sending them questionnaires to fill out, never knowing if they were flattered or horrified. (Probably a bit of both!)

The time came when I had to start looking for things they didn’t know. Armed with a notebook, ballpoint pen, manual typewriter and carbon paper, I began my low-tech quest. (No long distance calls, no internet or email, no computer – how, you may ask, did we manage back then?!?)

It was sloooow going. Writing letters to town clerks, church ladies, cemeteries and waiting for responses. Not easy for an impatient soul!

I haunted the Pratt Library, scouring census records and newspapers on microfilm. I went to the Peabody Library, the MD Historical Society, the MD State Archives, the Balto City Archives and the LDS (Mormon) family history center in Towson. I found a research friend and we’d go to PA to the Archives too. Even took a jaunt to the National Archives in DC once. Very cool.

(Cassie was still nursing so she went with me countless times to Annapolis. She was quite popular with the staff there! She was so well-behaved, never disturbed anyone.)

I volunteered at the LDS Library so I could have keys and research anytime while the kids played in a Sunday school room across the hall. (I’m still in awe at the records they have preserved from every corner of the globe!) There you have it. The beginning.

My name is Kevin Huigens. I am an amateur genealogist and family historian who has taken over the work that my mother started. I am aided and abetted by my brother Ross and my wonderful wife Anne Marie. Our heritage is northern and western European: German, Irish, Swedish, English, Dutch, Scottish, maybe Swiss. Our ancestors have settled in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Texas and Minnesota. We even have Loyalist ancestors who headed to New Brunswick after the revolution. Later generations moved west to Ontario and then back south of the border to South Dakota.

I love the detective work and research that goes into tracking down details on my ancestors lives. I bash my head against the brick walls until they come down. I also enjoy writing and my blog is a great way to practice. I try to post all of the interesting little pieces of family history I turn up. I occasionally use the many blogging prompts for genealogists to spur me into blogging action.

On November 6th, 1965, Gerald Kline (24) and his wife Linda (20) were traveling down the highway near Fresno, California when a car traveling in the opposite direction crossed lanes and collided with them head-on. Gerald, Linda and their 13-month old, Theresa Robin, were all killed. Gerald’s two young sons, Jerry (4) and Paul (3), who were playing on the floor in the back seat, were the only Kline survivors.

I am Courtney, daughter of Jerry Kline. This blog is the story of my efforts to find out everything I can about my grandparents. My dad doesn’t know much about his family. He can’t remember anything before the accident. I want to know who there were, how they fell in love, who their friends were. I want to know everything.

Genealogy is a great hobby, and a wonderful way to preserve the history and heritage of those who have come before us. Starting a genealogy blog is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I think this will be a great way for me to share my research with others, and to journal about the things I learn along the way. Hopefully you will find something of interest here, and it will help you in your own research. Happy hunting!

I have been an avid genealogy and family history researcher for thirty years. I have served as a research assistant at the Calgary Family History Centre for twelve years, and director from 2001-2004.

Welcome to the Genealogy & Local History Department Blog of the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library. Thank you for visiting. This Blog will promote the genealogy events in the department and highlight breaking news in the field of genealogy. We will share our insights and inspirations to help you find the next step for your genealogy research. Be sure to check some of our previous posts.

Dates are only the skeleton of the stories which should be told about the ordinary or extraordinary lives of our ancestors. Finding clues to how they lived puts flesh on those bones and makes the old photographs glow with life.

I began my genealogical quest in 1990, spurred by a gravestone my mother found in Richfield Springs, NY. How many generations separated me from Samuel and Nabby Colman? Where had they come from? Thus began many weekends spent in libraries, requests to Town Clerks for vital records, tromping through cemeteries, and now–journeys through the internet and virtual meetings with other “cousins” on a similar quest.

The suffrage campaign wagon used by Edna Buckman Kearns on Long Island and in New York City parades is an example of the extensive use of “visual rhetoric” used by the suffragists in addition to the written and spoken word. This wagon also tapped into the tradition of the American Revolution by the question posed whenever Edna spoke in public: “If taxation without representation was tyranny in 1776, why not in 1913?” The wagon’s name, the “Spirit of 1776,” also was a crowd pleaser.

The campaign wagon was used by Edna Buckman Kearns in Votes for Women organizing campaigns on Long Island and in New York City parades. It is part of the collection of the New York State Museum in Albany, New York. The wagon was featured in the state museum’s Legacy magazine where transportation curator Geoffrey Stein referred to the suffrage wagon as a prime artifact of the suffrage movement. The suffrage wagon was displayed at the New York State Museum during March and April of 2010 in an exhibit entitled “Women Who Rocked the Vote.” Check out an overview of the exhibit.

Who knew my mom would challenge me years ago with the statement “there are no Gunzendorfers left in the United States”? What’s strange is that the Gunzendorfers are in my DAD’S family, not my mom’s. But she threw out the challenge and being a good daughter, I decided to take the bait and prove her wrong. Who knew where it would lead?

About 7-8 years ago, I told my friend, Kerry about the challenge. Kerry and I have never met in person, but I feel like I’ve known her forever. We “met” on a HR board about 10 years ago and while she is an awesome HR professional, her passion has always been genealogy. So she did some quick research on the Gunzendorfers and sent me an e-mail. I still have that e-mail.

So here I am today. I started researching the Gunzendorfers about a year ago and have branched out in so many directions with the help of my partner-in-genealogy, Jan. I’ve learned that my 5th great grandfather on my mother’s side, Ashbel Waller, served in the Revolutionary War. And his grandson, Emery Waller, (my 3rd great grandfather) served in the Civil War. I’ve learned that just like my grandmothers told me when we gave our daughter the middle name of Rebecca, both of their grandmothers really were named Rebecca (Steen and Waller). I’ve learned that my dad’s family really are Jewish and that the Jews in California have been studied and researched – a lot. And while I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet, I’ve learned that there really might not be any Gunzendorfers left in the United States. Who knew Mom might be right?

I’ll document as much as I can and, hopefully, one day my children and grandchildren will be glad that I did. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll find someone out there who is researching my family and we can share information.

But most of all, I’ll learn more about who I am and where I came from. I’ll take it one step at a time and one relative at a time. And I’ll document the journey as I go.

About Thomas MacEntee

What happens when a “tech guy” with a love for history gets laid off during The Great Recession of 2008? You get Thomas MacEntee, a genealogy professional who’s also a blogger, educator, author, social media connector, online community builder and more.
Thomas was laid off after a 25-year career in the information technology field, so he started his own genealogy-related business called High Definition Genealogy. He also created an online community of over 3,000 family history bloggers known as GeneaBloggers. His most recent endeavor, Hack Genealogy, is an attempt to “re-purpose today’s technology for tomorrow’s genealogy.”
Thomas describes himself as a lifelong learner with a background in a multitude of topics who has finally figured out what he does best: teach, inspire, instigate, and serve as a curator and go-to-guy for concept nurturing and inspiration. Thomas is a big believer in success, and that we all succeed when we help each other find success.

I feel fully welcomed. Thank you to all who have visited my blog. I look forward to connecting and sharing my family’s stories as time allows. This welcome weekend has been so exciting. I plan on my first Digital Prompt for next Saturday.